build a cigar box guitar in one hour! videos for each step!

[Crow]

WORKSPACE, SUPPLIES AND TOOLS

NECK

NECK, EYE BOLT TUNER INSTALLATION AND BODY BLOCK

MOUNTING THE NECK AND SOUND HOLES

FRET CALCULATION AND FRET MARKERS

STRINGING IT UP, STRINGS AND EYE BOLT TUNERS

TUNE IT UP AN PLAY!

PLAYING THE CIGAR BOX GUITAR : COLLECTIVE SOUL - "SHINE"

[Papa Chuck Crawford]

shit,the word is out! you guys are good! Hope catch yaall soon.

[Crow]

@randy
i'm glad you're in to the one of a kind builds. we need guys to build the really hard, expensive fancy stuff.
however..
i pride myself on ABSOLUTE minimalism. if there is a simpler solution, i intend to find it. my path has taken several years to break this instrument down to as few steps as i have, and i'm damned proud of it. this build only requires two cuts, and a few holes. i still find myself wondering if i could do it without having a drill...

but that's just me. you guys keep building that fancy stuff, i'll be right here, holding down the bottom end, with the most efficient, practical solutions that i can find, and i'll keep sharing them.

[c# merle]

i kinda like both- one offs with a bit of personal style and down and dirty super basic.
both have their own charm. well done on the vids crow

[Ted Crocker]

Very cool Crow! Thanks for posting this

[billy freedom]

nice to see someone doing it the correct traditional way, and not just polishing turds. kudos excellent design and build.

[Crow]

@billy freedom
i wasn't aware that there was either a correct *or* traditional way. i just kept whittling the design to the most basic components, with the fewest steps.

but, wow, thanks for the praise!



billy freedom said:

nice to see someone doing it the correct traditional way, and not just polishing turds. kudos excellent design and build.

[billy freedom]

try some shoe polish on the neck, some waxed twine tied on frets, a hambone bridge, and a brass bolt nut.

[Crow]

wow, thanks! i've been beating my BRAINS out tying to think of an "appropriate" stain/polish/finish approach, and you've NAILED IT! shoe polish would be so easy to use (and thanks to the military, i'm pretty familiar with using it, and am compelled to always have some on hand.)

i don't use frets yet, but the waxed twine may be an interesting solution. the hambone bridge.. i'll have to figure out where to get one.

just used a brass bolt nut on a recent build, though.

[billy freedom]

brass rings better. black boot dye available at walmart is exactly what was used by tramp artists and the rural poor as a woodstain my uncle showed me. sometimes i use india ink. but the boot dye black or brown you just apply with the apllicator. then i touch up the tight spots with a watercolor brush after its all put together. its like paint and stain great stuff. dries in 24 hours. they ate alot of ham then, theyd save the bone, make a slide etc. it has a round side and a flat side. cut a peice from the pointy ridgewhere the flat meets round kinda like this shape ^ like a peice of angle iron. mill it flat on a peice of sandpaper glued to a flat surface. youre strings are inline so they will naturally bite into the bone by breaking it in. you can get hambones at a pet store soak em in bleach about a week then dry, they clean up good.

Crow said:

wow, thanks! i've been beating my BRAINS out tying to think of an "appropriate" stain/polish/finish approach, and you've NAILED IT! shoe polish would be so easy to use (and thanks to the military, i'm pretty familiar with using it, and am compelled to always have some on hand.)

i don't use frets yet, but the waxed twine may be an interesting solution. the hambone bridge.. i'll have to figure out where to get one.

just used a brass bolt nut on a recent build, though.

[ed wentling]

way to go Crow !!!!! keep ur bottom end tight buddy !! LOL seriously dude nice job on both the guitar and the videos. we need more stuff like this for the beginners that think building is too hard. Guess you showed them !!!! My goal is to go above and beyond Reddogs and have Johns guitars compared to mine but that's my personal choice. Keep up the good work dude Ur awesome !! Later BTW one of my latest. Let me know what ya think.

[MZ-HANDYMAN]

Regular stain is just as esay to use as shoe polish and it wont turn your hand black later like shoe polish will.... But this is a CBG Not a CBG haaa

Cardboard not Cigar

Great job! You'll be helping out a lot of beginners who want a quick instrument.
MZ-HANDYMAN

Crow said:

wow, thanks! i've been beating my BRAINS out tying to think of an "appropriate" stain/polish/finish approach, and you've NAILED IT! shoe polish would be so easy to use (and thanks to the military, i'm pretty familiar with using it, and am compelled to always have some on hand.)

i don't use frets yet, but the waxed twine may be an interesting solution. the hambone bridge.. i'll have to figure out where to get one.

just used a brass bolt nut on a recent build, though.

[MZ-HANDYMAN]

Like the Vid(s) Crow!

I got a Q... You said you sell em at your Gigs.... Mind if I ask what you get for a 1 Hr guitar?

**MZ**